Cooks have used a variety of devices to process foods of all types over the years. For example, it has long been recognized that tenderized meat tastes better, cooks easier and faster, and absorbs seasonings and aromatic spices better than untenderized meat. Various devices and methods for tenderizing meat are well known in the art. Mallets have long been used in the art to 15 tenderize meat, but have the drawbacks of destroying the texture of the meat, and causing great mess through splattered particles. Chemical tenderizers are used such as Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG) but these have the drawbacks of frequently changing the flavor of the meat, and generating potential health risks to some.
Another class of tenderizing devices has developed over time that utilizes a pair of rollers having serrated teeth through which the meat is passed. The teeth penetrate the surface of the meat, bruising the meat fibers, and thus, condition the meat. Such devices can be traced back to at least 1850 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,735 to Stagg.
A primary consideration when tenderizing meat is the need to apply a regulated force to the utensil contacting the meat, in order to achieve enough pressure to penetrate the meat's surface. Devices employing a hinged construction that allow the user to apply a direct manual pressure are commonplace. So too are devices using a variety of spring systems. However these devices are generally complicated, or do not permit application of uniform pressure to the meat.
Another consideration is how to best move the meat through the rollers. Two systems have developed over time. The first system utilizes a single driven roller directly connected to a hand crank, relying on the pressure between the meat and the second roller to cause rotation and thus, tenderization by the second roller. These devices do not operate easily as only one roller is being directly rotated, and also do not provide satisfactory tenderization. The second system utilizes one directly driven roller, and a second roller indirectly driven by a gearing mechanism attached to the first roller. These devices provide better tenderization, but are more complicated in structure, and still must be adapted to solve the pressure consideration discussed above, making them even more complicated.
Over the years these tenderizing devices evolved and became more sophisticated, employing combinations of various springs, gears and motors, with more working parts to potentially break down. Of course, being a product to be used with food, cleaning of the device is a consideration, and as the devices became more complex, so has cleaning of the products. So too as these meat tenderizing devices have become more complex, assembling the devices or repairing the devices has grown in complexity.
Of course, these considerations focus on tenderizing meat. Other foods need processing before cooking, and, generally, require separate utensils or devices for their processing. For example, it is now popular to prepare homemade pasta. This trend has spurred the development and sale of a variety of pasta making machines for home use. Other devices for chopping, shreading, mashing, etc. are also available for the home cook, but again are offered as separate appliances.